Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging systems are widely used in aerial and space reconnaissance. Usually, an aircraft or a spacecraft is provided with a SAR imaging system which transmits radar pulses and collects radar echoes corresponding to the radar pulses reflected by an object to be imaged.
Due to the large amount of data generated by a SAR system, optical solutions have been developed for processing the SAR raw data. For example, the SAR raw data can be recorded on a photosensitive film, or an optical image of the SAR raw data can be generated using a light modulator. However, in such optical processing systems, the position of optical components has to be changed in order to compensate for parameters changes for the SAR imaging system, such as an altitude change for example. The requirement for moving the optical components reduces the sturdiness and viability for the optical SAR raw data processing system.
Therefore there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for compensating for a parameter change in a SAR imaging system.